Mexican Lasagna

My friend Kristi shared this recipe for "Mexican Lasagna" with me.

1lb ground beef

1 package Taco Seasoning

2-3 cans beans

No-boil lasagna noodles

20 oz jar salsa

2 1/2 cups water

Shredded Cheese

Brown and drain meat. Add taco seasoning and beans. Mix together salsa and water. In a 9x13 casserole assemble lasagna with a layer of meat, followed by noodles, meat, 1/2 of the salsa, noodles, meat, salsa, cheese. Bake one hour at 375.

Kristi gave me a sample of this dish and it was very good. I had a lot of corn tortillas leftover from making chicken chilaquiles so I changed the recipe a little to use those instead of lasagna noodles. Here is what you need for the tortilla version I made:

1 lb ground turkey (or beef)

1 package taco seasoning (plus water it calls for)

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans

12 corn tortillas

1 20-oz jar salsa

2 tbsp sour cream

1 cup shredded cheese

Brown and drain turkey and add taco seasoning (and water) and beans. Add salsa and sour cream. In a 9x13 casserole assemble lasagna with these layers: meat, 6 tortillas, meat, half of the cheese, 6 tortillas, meat, remaining half of cheese. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

I really liked using the corn tortillas. The casserole was a little like an enchilada casserole. This was a tasty way to use ground turkey.

New note: My friend Sunny tried this out (thanks for using my blog, Sunny!) and said it was a little dry and suggested using some tomato sauce in addition to the salsa and adding a layer of refried beans. I think that would be a great idea!

Another note: I made this again using Sunny's recommendations and it was delicious! I added 1/2 cup of tomato sauce to the meat and salsa mixture, and omitted the beans. I used refried pinto beans instead and spread them on the tortillas before I layered them in. So, the layers were meat, tortillas, refried beans, meat, cheese, tortillas, etc. This was my favorite so far!